Strongest Under the Heavens
by DA2003
Summary: AU: With his family going bankrupt after the Cell Games, Gohan becomes determined to prove himself by supporting his mother and baby brother by entering the TenkaIchi Budokai Tournament. Depriving himself of his strength, Gohan faces a true challenge. R


Strongest Under the Heavens

Gohan glanced down over the garden of Capsule Corp. while he was sitting on a chair in the font room. Currently, Trunks was just learning to walk with a little help from Vegeta. Admittedly this help was taking the form of Vegeta shouting "WALK DAMN YOU! WALK!" But every little helps. Gohan smiled as Vegeta got more and more frustrated while Trunks became focused on digging up the soil of the garden for any bugs or other points on interest.

Despite the entertainment of seeing Vegeta trying to get his 2 year old son to walk, Gohan was deeply troubled. He had overheard his mother speak to Bulma about how the Son family was now essentially, bankrupt. The money from Goku's winnings of the Tenka-ichi Budokai Tournaments had gone. The bank where the money had been invested had one too many bad decisions and had gone bust. Taking the entire savings of the Son family and many others with it.

To make matters worse, Chi-Chi was expecting a baby within a month and two mouths to feed were more than the finances could bare. Especially since Gohan's new sibling would be half Saiyan. Bulma had of course offered to pay for everything that the Son family needed and with no other option, Chi-Chi was coming close to accepting which made Gohan feel ever more useless _"I couldn't finish Cell off 8 months ago, I can't even help my family when they need me. What good am I?" _He thought bitterly.

As a way to ease his mind of his problems, Gohan grabbed the remote which was on the arm of his chair and used it to switch on the large television on the other end of the room. The screen instantly came on with adverts for various products. Gohan rolled his eyes as he reflected on how typical this was of his luck as of late. He was about to change the channel when a much more interesting advert came on.

"**_Are you a martial artist? Do you believe you are worthy of the title 'Strongest Under the Heavens'? Then come and prove your worth at the Tenka-ichi Budokai Tournament in 2 months time! Will you try for the first prize of 1 million zeni or settle for the second prize is 500,000 zeni?"_**

Though the advert continued for some time after that, Gohan paid little attention. He smiled as he realised he had come up with a plan to help his family solve their problems.

XxX

Bulma smiled sadly as she sipped her lemonade and looked upon her old friend Chi-Chi. They were both sitting in the expansive Capsule Corporation kitchen at the table in the middle of it. Both had some light drinks but Chi-Chi had only taken some water and hadn't even touched it yet. Although Chi-Chi and Gohan were currently visiting on the progress of Chi-Chi's pregnancy, Bulma had driven the conversation to matters of a more fiscal nature.

The younger (Though Bulma would never admit it) woman was heavily pregnant and her belly bulged with the child growing inside. Despite the extra weight and energy spent, Chi-Chi was an energetic as ever and there was little that could slow her down… apart from this. Bulma put down her lemonade and looked over to Chi-Chi "Look, it's easy." She said "All you have to do is agree to let me handle your financial affairs and you'll never have to worry about money again. You'll have the entire profits of Capsule Corporation at your disposal!"

Chi-Chi smiled but shook her head "I don't know Bulma… I'm grateful really. It's just that I don't want to rely on anyone else for me to feed my family. Plus, Gohan is already taking this really hard. I think he almost blames himself for everything that goes wrong these days. Every time a plate gets dropped or some mud gets trampled into the carpet, he just apologises and cleans it up, even if it isn't his fault!"

Bulma nodded in understanding. Gohan had taken his father's death very hard and Bulma would swear the young boy was somehow blaming himself for it. The loss of the Son's life savings probably made him feel all the more guilty over something he had no control over. The poor boy had gone through so much and to add this on top of everything… Gohan had even asked for a job at Capsule Corp. to help pay for his family but Bulma been unable to provide even that due to the law…

As if to break her line of thought, a loud, harsh voice called out "WOMAN! WHERE'S MY FOOD?!" Bulma rolled her eyes as Vegeta marched into the kitchen, his face furious and training outfit stained with mud from Trunks's little hands.

"Just open the fridge Vegeta; you can do that can't you?" Bulma asked in a tired tone, earning a glare from Vegeta before he went over to the fridge and opened it, nearly tearing the door off in the process. He grabbed the leftovers of a roast chicken from the previous night's dinner. Stuffing a slice into his mouth, Vegeta turned around and apparently noticed Chi-Chi for the first time "You didn't leave with your spawn?" He growled.

Chi-Chi looked at him in confusion "What do you mean Gohan left?"

Vegeta shrugged in a non-committal way "He just left, saying he was going to see that short Namek for some reason."

Bulma and Chi-Chi looked at each other in confusion "Why would Gohan go to see Dende in such a hurry?" Bulma asked her friend

XxX

"The Tenka-ichi Budokai?" Dende asked, rather confused.

Gohan nodded happily and went on to explain "Yeah, if I enter that, get to the final and throw the fight then I can get the money to pay for my family and won't have tonnes of people bothering us."

Dende and Mr. Popo looked at each other over the table all three were currently sat around. It was in one of the many halls situated on the Lookout and was grandly designed with many murals of previous Guardians of Earth and scenes from Earth long ago. Mr Popo had taken the time to place tea and some cakes upon the small round table they were sitting at for Gohan, neither he nor Dende ate much. He turned back to Gohan and asked "That's all very well Gohan, but why come to us specifically?"

Gohan placed his hand on the back of his hand and after giving an embarrassed smile, said "Well I hate to ask but is there anything you can give me that'll decrease my power?" Realising this would only create further questions; Gohan quickly added "I don't want to stick out in the Tournament. The less people who can make the connection between me and the Cell Games, the better."

Both Dende and Mr. Popo nodded in understanding and Dende turned to Popo "Do we actually have something that can decrease a person's power that drastically Mr. Popo?"

Mr. Popo thought for a moment before disappearing in a flash of light. Gohan turned to Dende "Do you think there is something that can help me?"

Dende nodded hesitantly "I think so; otherwise he wouldn't have gone like that."

As they waited for Mr Popo to return, Gohan asked "Why don't you know about all this?"

Dende rolled his eyes "Come on Gohan! I've only been the Guardian for 8 months, do you expects me to know everything?"

"Well… yes actually."

Before the two could continue, another flash of light came and went; leaving Mr. Popo who was holding a pair of bracelets in his hands "I believe I have found what you after young Gohan." He walked over to the young boy and presented him with the bracelets. They were long enough to go from Gohan's wrists to half way up his forearms, emerald in colour, shimmered like scales and had _kanji_ like inscriptions carved upon them though Gohan was unable to recognise them. Gohan warily reached out and stroked one with a finger; it was cold to the touch.

Mr. Popo smiled at Gohan's reaction "These are the Bracelets of Kamet, a previous Guardian. They are designed to significantly lower a person's power level. The metal was forged with great magic and absorbs the energy throughout the body every moment of the day. Unfortunately the magic was far too strong and while it will kill someone with the strength of even a Super Saiyan, I believe it will bring your power level down to that of an ordinary human being due to your exceptionally high ki output."

Mr. Popo brought the bracelets closer to Gohan and motioned for him to take them. Gohan did so while Mr. Popo continued his explanation "You can attach and take them off at will but just be prepared. I doubt you will be able to manipulate ki with the bracelets on."

Gohan nodded and started to put the bracelets on, starting with the right. Though loose at first, after both were put on, the bracelets instantly tightened and shrunk down so they only covered Gohan's wrists. After this, Gohan frowned as he felt nothing happen at first but then gave a gasp as he felt his chest contract as if he was having a heart attack.

Gohan felt the room spin and turn as his vision blurred. His energy was being drained faster than he imagined and it was beginning to hurt. Gohan collapsed from the chair and onto the floor, his breathing now short and sharp and each gasp agonising. Just when he felt as if he was going to pass out, the pain stopped and his breathing returned to normal. Although he was actually now quite tired, Gohan didn't feel all that bad.

He looked up to see Dende and Mr. Popo standing beside him, looking very worried "Are you alright?" Dende asked.

"A little drained but I feel OK." Gohan answered, relief flooding into the faces of the other two. Gohan still frowned though when he felt no change "I hate to tell you this Mr. Popo but I don't feel all that different."

For a moment, the Genie looked amused "Really? Why don't you try out your strength then? Hit the wall and see what happens."

Gohan got slowly up and walked to the wall on the far side of the room, looking back to Dende and Mr. Popo who were both looking on with curiosity, Gohan shrugged turned away from the two and pulled up his sleeves as he prepared to strike the wall _"Just in case Mr. Popo's wrong, I won't hit it full strength. I don't want to break smash the entire Lookout to pieces."_ Gohan thought as he flung his fist forward and hit the wall straight on.

There was a few seconds pause where nothing happened. Then, when the tension mounted to its highest point… nothing continued to happen.

Mr. Popo and Dende glanced at each other and Dende gave a small cough "Er… Gohan, are you alright?"

Gohan finally took his hand away from the wall and turned to face Dende "Do you still have your healing powers?" He asked in a monotone voice.

"Yes."

Gohan nodded "Good. YEOW!!!" He yelled and held the wrist of the hand he had struck the wall with. Mr. Popo smiled and shook his head as Dende walked over to Gohan to see if anything was broken. After a brief pause where Dende made sure that Gohan was alright, Gohan flexed his hand and placed his hand on the wall and started to push "Well this is just weird." He muttered.

Dende scratched his head as Gohan continued to push with all his strength against the wall to no affect. Without the bracelets, the wall would have crumbled to pieces. But now, Gohan was just as strong as an ordinary 12 year old "Um… Gohan, how do you expect to compete in the Tenka-ichi Budokai when you're just as strong as a normal person?"

Gohan turned back to Dende and Mr. Popo with a gleam in his eye "I would be _if _I didn't have somebody who was able to train me without me being completely outclassed."

Dende frown with confusion "And who's that?"

Gohan smiled and gave a wink "Don't worry, you'll find out soon enough." As if suddenly realising something he said "I need to go tell mum about this." He started to run out of the hall into the open air waving at the other two "Thanks a lot you guys! I'll see you soon!" Mr. Popo and Dende looked out of a nearby window and saw Gohan run across the Outlook before reaching the edge and leaping off to the sky below.

When Gohan had left Dende frowned as if a sudden unpleasant thought had hit him "Mr. Popo," He said out loud "Do the bracelets make it impossible for Gohan to use attacks like the Kame-Hame-Ha?"

Mr. Popo nodded "While Gohan will be unable to use ki to increase his speed and strength or even launch ki attacks, he will still remember physical techniques that he learned and he will be able to gain strength exceedingly quickly due to the Saiyan trait of acquiring great power in a short amount of time."

The answer didn't seem to satisfy Dende as he asked another question "So he is unable to use ki at all?"

Mr. Popo nodded "To all intents and purposes, that is the case."

"Not even to fly?"

"Correct."

"And what did Gohan just do?"

"He flew..."

There was a horrible pause as both Dende and Mr. Popo realised what had happened. Wordlessly, they both ran out onto the outside of the Outlook and were confronted with the comforting sight of Gohan alive (Though looking definitely worse for wear) tucked under the arm of a confused looking Piccolo. Piccolo gently dropped Gohan to the ground (Who stayed there looking for comfort for some time) and growled "What just happened?"

"Didn't Gohan tell you?" Dende asked, trying to sound as innocent as possible.

"As far as I could tell, Gohan could only whimper and latch onto me." Piccolo snarled "He also said 'owies' when he landed on my face." The Namek snarled, unconsciously rubbing a bruise the young boy had left. It was typical, the first time in months he came to the lookout to meet with Dende and Gohan lands on his face from a 100 feet.

A shadow above the group caused them to look up, seeing a flying vehicle containing Bulma and a very irate Chi-Chi. The vehicle landed on the Lookout a while away from them and Chi-Chi strode out, for all appearances taking the form of an Avenging Angel "What," She cried out "Is going on here?!"

To be continued…

**Here's the first chapter of what I hope to be a rather entertaining fic. I hope you'll be interested with the prospect of battles going back to Dragon Ball levels. Just Remember to R&R!**


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